Day 1

This spiritually significant mountain is also the place for a bird’s-eye view of Jerusalem’s topography and for understanding how it grew through the ages.

Underground Jerusalem including:

The Western Wall Tunnel – the original Western Wall of Herod’s Temple Mountover which Jerusalem of later eras was constructed, walking along 1,445 feet of the original, enormous 2,000-year-old Herodian stones, seeing the lofty Warren’s Gate, a street and other finds, and a fascinating interactive model.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre – most of the complex over the sacred ground marking the tomb of Jesus is a complicated combination of medieval and Byzantine architecture. Deep below the surface are remains going back to a First Temple-era stone quarry and the world-famous and rarely viewed “ship inscription,” probably carved by a long-ago pilgrim.

The City of David – King David’s “fortress of Zion” (2. Sam. 5:7), the ongoing excavations include a royal palace, Warren’s Shaft, the “water fortress” of the Gihon (1 Kings 1:33), the Second Temple-era Pool of Siloam (John 9:7) and a 2,000-year-old street that once led up to the Temple.

The Jerusalem Archaeological Park and Davidson Visitor Center – a “still-life” of the original Herodian street, revealing Roman destruction, Robinson’s Arch, the Southern Wall and steps to Hulda’s Gates; and the Davidson Center, in the basement of an eighth-century-CE palace with its virtual-reconstruction, high-definition interactive model.

The Tower of David Museum – located at the Jaffa Gate inside the rooms of Jerusalem’s Turkish citadel, abutting the huge tower which despite its name was constructed by Jerusalem’s master-builder, Herod. Each of the many rooms features exhibits devoted to a different time-period, clarifying the capital’s complex history.

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